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'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the Capitol riot

Nov 18, 2021, 00:03 IST
Insider
Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," at the "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
  • A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Jacob Chansley, known as the "QAnon Shaman," to 41 months in prison.
  • Chansley struck a deal to plead guilty to one count of obstruction for his role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
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A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," to 41 months in prison — one of the harshest punishments for the January 6 insurrection handed down thus far.

Chansley struck a deal to plead guilty to one count of obstruction in September, after spending eight months in jail. US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth previously denied three requests from Chansley for pre-sentencing release, citing the risk that he might flee.

The judge sentenced Chansley to a 41-month prison term, followed by 36 months of supervised release where he will have to submit to drug tests. Chansley also must pay $2,000 in restitution.

Chansley's sentence ties for the longest prison term given to any of the nearly 700 people charged in connection with the Capitol riot. Scott Fairlamb, a former MMA fighter, was sentenced by Lamberth on November 11 after video footage showed him punching a Metropolitan Police Department officer outside the Capitol on January 6.

US Attorney Kimberly Louise Paschall had asked Lamberth to impose the maximum sentence for Chansley: 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $2,000 fine.

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During the sentencing hearing, Lamberth told Chansley that he thought the rioter was genuinely remorseful for his crime, and that he was "smart" to take a plea deal rather than going to trial, where he could have faced an even harsher sentence. While Lamberth said he didn't think the maximum sentence was appropriate, he said he couldn't sentence Chansley to anything under the minimum sentence of 41 months because the crime was "so horrific."

Chansley's attorney, Albert Watkins, spoke about Chansley's life in the hearing, emphasizing his military service.

Chansley served in the US Navy, Insider previously reported. He enlisted in 2005 and left in 2007 as a supply clerk seaman apprentice, the second lowest enlisted rank.

He was assigned to the the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, which has since been decommissioned, for most of his two years in the Navy, service data obtained by Insider revealed.

Chansley was kicked out of the service for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine, the defense outlet Task & Purpose previously reported, citing a Navy official. The nature of his discharge from the Navy is unclear.

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Watkins also said his client understands that he broke the law. "He is accountable and he wants to be held accountable," the attorney said.

Chansley was diagnosed with several mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in July, after his mental state declined while in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail. Some of Chansley's 2006 medical records from his time in the Navy show similar mental health problems, but doctors never told Chansley, Watkins said.

Watkins argued that Chansley "wasn't a planner or an organizer" of the Capitol riot. But the judge interjected that Chansley had "made himself the image of the riot" because of the face paint and horns that he wore on January 6.

Chansley said he got through his time in jail by reflecting on his crime while he was in solitary confinement. He told the court his time in jail "traumatized" him and left him with "white hairs" due to stress.

"From an objective perspective, I'm not like I am nothing like these criminals I have been incarcerated with," Chansley said. "Some of these people — we are miles, lightyears away mentally. They're acting like they're in the Holiday Inn."

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Chansley said he learned in jail that freedom "has to be exercised with accountability," and that he wanted to use his time in court to say he was "wrong for entering the Capitol."

"I had to come to terms with the fact that I was in solitary confinement because of my decision," Chansley said. "I broke the law."

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